Tuesday, September 23, 2008

My mobile and me


All of us are in love with our mobiles, but not me, cos what i feel for my mobile borders between obsession and infatuation. It’s my solace for the 3 hours that I spend commuting from my home at Navi Mumbai to my office at Goregaon. As of now I own a Nokia N73, and no matter how many iPhone’s and the likes flood the market, there’s none that’s as good as my baby. It has a 3.15 MP camera, an MP3 player and above all a speaker phone that ensures that I enjoy my music, even when the head phones are not stuffed in my ears.That doesnt mean I play my music loud esp.in trains, cos I personally dislike such rude behaviour of slapping music on other harassed commuters irrespective of the fact that they may like it or not.This feature is enjoyed the most at home,when I am preparing my self for office. I am using a 2GB card that’s sufficient enough for my data needs, in fact more than sufficient as I have stored all my ‘top’ favorites and still there's space for more. This phone has also addicted me to clicking away and then uploading those photographs on my PC, my very own collection. The FM is a downer in the trains, as there is no signal;of course, at that point i switch on my MP3. All in all, I think more that the comfort of keeping me connected, my mobile ensures that I get to play DJ even in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai locals. I love it:)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Meeting Ayesha


I just about managed to catch the direct train from Andheri to Panvel...and only people who commute via the same route as me will understand that this was no less than hitting a jack pot. If catching the train was good, then acquiring a seat was luxury. A luxury that I relished.. Breathing a sigh of relief, I fumbled through my bag to find the novel that I had been trying to finish. The train sped off and I relaxed my limbs by taking off my footwear (a typical Indian habit) and prepared myself for a journey that would last for an hour and a half.

The gentle bumps that marked the train catching speed were accompanied by cool breeze that rushed in to mess up my already messy hair. Some relief from the heat of humidity of the evening! An hour later, I looked up from the book only to see a foreigner in front of me. As I took in her rich dark skin, the fat god chain that hung around her neck and a heavy locket that threatened to make the lady bow down with it weight, she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Realizing that I was staring and remembering my mums instructions that staring was rude, I looked away…Briefly...Then looked at her again. I found her interesting. I mean it’s not every day that you get to sit with a foreigner especially in a local train.

Out of the blue, I felt a flutter up my nose and started sneezing…Actually it was a train of sneezes one after the other. A few minutes later I leaned back, tired of the effort of sneezing and being the stubborn fool that I am, I looked at her again and saw her smiling at me. I smiled back and that broke the ice. I asked her the one question we all love asking outsiders...'How do you find India', and she cringed...caught my disapproving expression and hurriedly straightened her face to clarify,"You all don’t like dark people, whenever I enter the train, you all push and women especially, they call me dark, ugly...start wiping their hands if they touch me, I don’t like it." I was surprised, not just at her tattered English but also cos this was the last thing that I expected. I dint know how far she was being honest, but we Indians are suckers for fair skin, seeing the rate at which our fairness products sell. 'It’s not that bad', I retorted'may be you met the wrong people'. 'Don’t know, but not nice to be like this’ she added and then chose to stare out of the window. There was an uncomfortable silence. 'How do you like our food?' I asked. I thought it was safe to discuss our cuisine. 'Too spicy' she answered wrinkling her nose 'but I enjoy kheer and gajar ka halwa' she added with a smile. 'Whats you name?' I asked,'Ayesha.Whats yours?'she replied'Suneeta' I asnwered.'So where you heading?' I continued. 'Don’t know the name of the place, but one station before the last.' The train had almost reached my destinaton.‘Can I click you?’ I asked hesitating a little."Oh sure!" she answered, all smiles. Enthusiastically she struck a pose. She asked to see the image, not satisfied with the result, asked me to click her again. Happy with the next pic she said that she wanted to click me as well.She fished out an iphone from her bag (it was the first time that I had see one and I stared at it with such lust that she tightened her grip on it...hehehe).A few clicks and I boarded off the train, waving to Ayesha, a guest in our country who wasn’t happy with us…We,Indians who are enraged if any one of us has to face racism. Had she been a blonde, may be her reception would have been better. Staring at the dusky skin on my hand I started my short walk home…

Friday, September 5, 2008

shopping time

i had just received my salary.was i thrilled?i mean it was the beginning of the month and i wanted to shop for a few things..never mind that i had bills to pay, installments that had to be taken care of and a few friends who had loaned me,awaiting their much deserved money ..but i still had to shop..

being the mindless and impulsive fool that i am , i thought that i had to treat myself(once again) and i did..One of my friend, whose one of the worse shopoholics known to mankind decided to help me out...and man she did. We ragged her husband into driving us to the near by malls(even though i was feeling rich, i wanted to save on the rickshaw money). We land up at shoppers stop. I just wanted a wallet from here. Thats it!!! just a wallet.The rest would be shopped from some place else. A walk between displays of wallet,few minutes of debate and the three of us finally zeroed on a wallet. Breathing a sigh of relief i 'almost' made way to the cash counter. That was till i heard a squeal of delight.Based on curiosity i turned around only to see my friend glide breezily towards the shoe counter.'Class apart shoes, and that to at such a huge discount' she giggled,'lets buy a pair each'. Thats how i landed up with three pairs while she realized that she rather buy perfumes. Okay!!We once again headed for the cash counter till i heard the familiar squeal again. This time some an offer on perfumes got that sound out of her. Well!! the discounts were tempting enough to buy a perfume or two(though i had indulged in 2 bottles last week and since i rely more on deos, i dint really need anymore). What can i say?Greed has no fullstops only commas.Ten minutes later a perfume bottle joint the list of my purchases. Somehow i was still happy. For just a few grands i had bought myself quite a few goods. Talk about a great sale and friend who eats sleeps and breaths shopping.True friendship.

My good luck dint end here. I met similar fates at Provogue(they also have a great sale) and linking road(Yupp!! i do buy off the road.They have some great bargains). Now i was glowing with happiness despite almost seven hours of shopping(we also managed to squeeze in some time for lunch) . I was rich with some great collection of not-so-needed products(but great buys nevertheless) poor by a few thousands and those bills.....